Press Release
Contact: Rosalyn Gell |
Phone: (919) 549-7500 ext.107 |
CED Expands Presence in Wilmington and Greater Coastal North Carolina
Adds Director-Level Professional to Fuel Growth
March 23, 2006, Research Triangle Park, NC – The Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) today announced that it has added Amber Zentis to its staff to grow the non-profit organization’s programs for emerging businesses in Wilmington and the greater coastal community.
“Wilmington is experiencing one of the fastest growth rates in the state, and that includes the growth of entrepreneurial enterprises,” said CED President Monica Doss. “CED’s energetic coastal advisory board has organized great programs in the local area for several years, and we feel it’s the right time to create additional focus in collaboration with other coastal initiatives. We also plan to provide more of CED’s traditional service offerings in the coastal region.”
Zentis’ public sector experience includes working with economic development issues and emerging businesses both as Small Business Development Center (SBDC) director for a six-county region in South Florida and in Fairfax County, Virginia. Most recently she was Vice President of Corporate Communications for SafeNet, a publicly-traded company in Maryland, which followed a position as Managing Director for a full-service communications agency where she worked with clients in the healthcare, telecommunications, software development, marine science and entertainment industries.
“Amber has a dual background in economic development and corporate communications,” Doss continued. “She has worked with companies in all stages of growth, and has been recognized for her ability to work with other organizations and agencies for effective program delivery. CED, while headquartered in RTP, is expanding to other communities where business emergence is evident.”
“I elected to move to Wilmington for quality of life reasons,” said Zentis, who moved to North Carolina’s coastal region from Maryland. “I have had a long-standing commitment to business growth, and I’m excited that I can live in a wonderful community while doing work I enjoy.”
As director of the CED-Coastal divisional office, Zentis will work to expand partnerships and programming in the greater Wilmington area. For example, CED is partnering with UNC-Wilmington to host the latest installment of the “Entrepreneur-in-the-Building” series on April 4 at the Jungle Rapids Fun Park in Wilmington.
During the April 4 program, veteran Silicon Valley entrepreneur Tom Looney will give featured remarks on “Emerging Technology: How Software Giants and Entrepreneurs Succeed Together.” Visit the CED calendar of events for more details.
About CED: The Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) is a private, non-profit organization formed in 1984 to identify, enable and promote high growth, high impact entrepreneurial companies and to accelerate the entrepreneurial culture of the Research Triangle and North Carolina. CED is the largest and oldest entrepreneurial support organization in the nation with more than 4,000 members representing over 1,100 entrepreneurial companies, financiers and professional firms. In July 2005, Wilmington's Coastal Entrepreneurial Council merged with CED to create CED-Coastal, a divisional office focused on entrepreneurial development in Wilmington and throughout North Carolina's entire coastal region. CED provides education, mentoring and capital formation resources to new and existing high-growth entrepreneurs through annual conferences, seminars, workshops and programs on entrepreneurial management and finance. www.cednc.org
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